Infanticide, the killing of unwanted babies, was common throughout the Roman Empire and other parts of the ancient world, according to a new study.

The study, which has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Archaeological Science, explains that "until recently, (infanticide) was a practice that was widely tolerated in human societies around the world. Prior to modern methods of contraception, it was one of the few ways of limiting family size that was both safe for the mother and effective."

Based on archaeological finds, the practice appears to have been particularly widespread in the Roman Empire.

"I think it was tolerated in the Roman world rather than something that was completely acceptable, but it's hard to be sure," lead author Simon Mays told Discovery News.

Mays, a senior scientific officer for the Ancient Monuments Laboratory of English Heritage, and colleague Jill Eyers focused their attention on Yewden Roman villa, otherwise known as "Hambelden." This villa, which dates from the 1st to the 4th century, is located at Hambleden, Buckinghamshire, England.

A previous excavation of Hambleden in 1921 determined that the site has 97 infant burials, the largest number of such burials for any Roman location in Britain. The excavator at the time suspected infanticide "with surreptitious disposal of the bodies."

Since few infant skeletons show evidence of cause of death, Mays and Eyers used an indirect method to investigate possible infanticide at Hambleden. Natural deaths tend to show a dispersed age distribution at burial sites. At places where infanticide occurred, the age distribution is more uniform, corresponding to full-term infancy.

The researchers took bone measurements of the Hambleden infant remains and compared them to those taken at two other sites: Ashkelon, Israel and the medieval Wharram Percy, England. Infants buried at Wharram Percy likely died of natural causes. Ashkelon, once part of the Roman Empire, told a different story.

Nearly 100 infants all died at Ashkelon at about the same full-term age. They were not buried, but instead were cast into a sewer that ran beneath a brothel. Researchers suspect that most such victims were suffocated to death.

Although the Hambleden babies were buried, their age distribution matched that of the infants at Ashkelon.

"Why so many infants were found in the Hambleden excavations is unclear," Mays said. "The infant burials were clustered together rather than scattered, and the excavated area just happened to contain the infant burial ground."

The findings add to the growing body of evidence that infanticide was common in the Roman Empire. The prehistoric sites of Khok Phanom Di, Thailand, and Lepinski Vir and Vlasac, Serbia, also yielded probable evidence for infanticide. A 1973 survey of human societies determined that 80 percent of them, at some time in the past or more modern times, practiced this intentional killing of babies.

Gwen Hunnicutt of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Gary LaFree of the University of Maryland, College Park, have extensively studied infanticide, directing their attention to more recent documented cases from 27 countries around the world.

Hunnicutt and LaFree found what they conclude is "a positive relationship between income inequality and female infant homicide victimization."

"Societies with extreme poverty may use infant homicide as a means to conserve resources, reduce economic strain or improve the quality of life for the family," they explained. "Infanticide actually decreases in countries characterized by a culture of violence."

The researchers suggest that the practitioners may, in some cases, perceive infanticide as "mercy killing, where the goal may be to alleviate suffering, not to cause it."

Hunnicutt and LaFree believe "increases in government support of family services, day care relief and other types of parental support might mitigate some negative effect of the economic impact of women in the labor force."

Remember the haunted house in grade school where your hand was guided into a bowlful of "brains"? Those skinned grapes have nothing on what happened to Rachel Cubitt of the York Archaeological Trust in England. As she was cleaning a 2,000-year-old skull unearthed during a campus expansion project into a prehistoric farm, she "felt something move inside the cranium. Peering through the base of the skull, she spotted an unusual yellow substance," read a press release announcing the discovery of the oldest surviving human brain in Britain. The skull was found alone in a muddy pit. Researchers believe it may have been a ritual offering. In this image, Cubitt is using an endoscope to examine the remains. Click the "Next" arrow above to learn about six more ghoulish archaeological discoveries.

Bricks thwarted vampires

Matteo Borrini
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AP

A wooden stake in the heart is one well-known way to thwart a vampire, but the method was insufficient in the 16th century. Back then, a sure-fire vampire slaying entailed putting a stone or brick in the suspected vampire's mouth so that it would starve to death. The remains of the 60-year-old woman found in a mass grave near Venice, shown here, was one of those purported vampires, according to Matteo Borrini, a forensic archaeologist and anthropologist at Florence University. At the time, plague ravaged the region. People were buried in mass graves that were often reopened to add new bodies. When they did, bloated bodies with blood spilling from their mouths and holes in their head shrouds were often revealed. These corpses were thought to be vampires.

A 17th century iron ball and chain pulled from thick, black mud on the banks of the River Thames in London may have a gruesome tale to tell, according to scientists. The 18-pound shackles were found with the lock fastened and no key, suggesting the prisoner either slipped out of custody or drowned while attempting to escape. Kate Sumnall, an archaeologist with the Museum of London, shown here, told reporters the iron is of high quality and was unlikely discarded on purpose.

Unearthed Greek vessels contain human remains

AP

Human remains found in one of two large, silver vessels in the heart of Aigai, the ancient capital of Macedonia, have thickened a murder-mystery plot. The unidentified remains, thought to date to the end of the 4th century B.C., were unearthed a few steps away from what some archaeologists speculate are the bones of Alexander the Great's murdered teenage son. What's odd is both burials are outside nearby cemeteries, suggesting either a form of punishment or an illegal act, archaeologists told the Associated Press. "Either way, it was an exceptional event," archaeologist Stella Drougou of Aristotle University, told the news service. "And we know the history of the Macedonian kings is full of acts of revenge and violent succession."

Urine-filled 'witch bottle'

For those afraid a witch may have cast a spell upon them, follow this recipe: pee in a bottle, toss in some fingernail clippings, strands of hair, iron nails, brass pins and a heart-shaped piece of leather pierced with a bent nail and then bury it upside down. If all goes well, the trick will cast the spell back on the witch, perhaps killing her — or so goes a 17th century witchcraft belief. Such a bottle was discovered in Greenwich, England, and dates to a time when witchcraft beliefs were more common, according to British Archaeology magazine.

Someone in the first century had it out for Lindow Man, a 25-year-old found face down in a northwest England moss bog. Examination of the well-preserved body shows that the otherwise healthy gentleman suffered two blows to the head and a swift knee to the back. A cord tied around his neck was likely used to strangle him and break his neck. Then, just to make sure he was dead, his throat was slit. The sequence of events, some scientists suggest, is consistent with a ritualistic killing, perhaps a human sacrifice carried out by Druids.

Gory sacrifice found at Teotihuacan

Henry Romero / Reuters

In 2004, a grisly scene was unearthed outside of modern-day Mexico City. Decapitated bodies were found tossed to the side of a burial tomb, their hands tied behind their backs. The discovery suggests the little-known culture that built the giant Pyramid of the Moon at Teotihuacan held bloody, sacrificial rituals. Two other bodies decorated with beads and greenstones, as well as animals and other offerings, were also found in the tomb. "Whether the victims and animals were killed at the site or a nearby place, the foundation ritual must have been one of the most terrifying acts recorded archaeologically in Mesoamerica," archaeologist Saburo Sugiyama of Aichi Prefectural University in Japan said in a statement announcing the discovery.